Telltale’s unfortunate death has resulted in a sudden lack of narrative-focused adventure games, but some former Telltale staffers are hoping to fill the void. Four former Telltale developers, all of whom left the studio before it’s sudden closure in 2018, have teamed up to form AdHoc Studio. While the studio aims to carry on the legacy of the adventure genre, it’s attempting to do it in a slightly different way.
In a stark contrast from the cell-shaded, comic book style of Telltale, AdHoc is aiming to create interactive FMV games. While no members of the team would fully commit to a project, it seems as though the studio wants to work with interactive games utilizing live-action footage. The founders seem heavily inspired by the recent success of “Bandersnatch,” an episode of Black Mirror that was styled as a “choose your own adventure.” Netflix has already said it intends to create other interactive live-action features, so the studio suddenly finds itself in a highly competitive market.
The studio is formed by Nick Herman, Dennis Lenart, and Pierre Shorette, who left Telltale in 2017 to join Ubisoft. They’re joined by Michael Choung, who previously was at Nigh School Studio after leaving Telltale in 2016. No specific platforms or partners have been announced for the new studio yet, but more details should come out as the year passes.
In the wake of Telltale’s closure, various in-development games were cancelled. Among them was The Walking Dead, which was recently revived by Skybound to close out its final season. Other projects, such as The Wolf Among Us 2, weren’t as fortunate. However, it definitely seems as though many still see the adventure game as a viable genre.
[Source: Variety]
